Community members in Moreno Valley have organized a petition drive seeking to keep Principal Anthony Rice at Valley View High School.
Rice just finished his first year on campus, but district leadership decided to move him to March Mountain High School, a continuation school on Dracaea Avenue in Moreno Valley.
The Moreno Valley Unified School District makes administrative changes at the end of each year to meet the needs of students and staff, spokesperson Anahi Velasco said in an email.
Rice will be March Mountain’s new principal in the upcoming school year, she said.
Superintendent Alejandro Ruvalcaba, who started July 1, made remarks similar to Velasco’s during the Tuesday night, July 23, school board meeting.
“These administrative changes happen at all levels,” Ruvalcaba said, without specifically citing Rice’s case.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, July 24, a petition on Change.org has garnered 1,632 signatures calling on the district to keep Rice at Valley View.
“Under Dr. Rice’s guidance, teachers feel trusted, and students take more pride in their school,” the petition states. “He takes the time to make everyone feel heard, creates a strong sense of community and demonstrates servant leadership. Without him, both students and staff will be worse off.”
Parents from the high school showed up at the meeting to call upon the district to keep Rice in his post and to share their experiences with the principal.
Rice was not at the meeting and district officials did not comment on his transfer.
Parent Gloria Fuentes said her daughter, who had just graduated, had problems in her first three years — until Rice came into the picture.
“Let me tell you, Dr. Rice made his presence from day one,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes said she reached out to Rice’s predecessor several times but could never get a response. Rice made it a point to show up at parent meetings and even to her daughter’s sports tryouts, Fuentes said.
Fuentes criticized the decision to move Rice and said that other principals receive several years in one position — but Rice was only given one.
“I think our students deserve more,” Fuentes said. “They deserve the best and I think Dr. Rice does that.”
Diana Encinas, a parent of two children in the district, said she found out from a rumor on social media that Rice was being transferred.
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“Seeing him just simply moved with no explanation to the parents during summer just like that, it brings up questions of what is going on,” Encinas said.
Encinas said the school doesn’t have a baseball coach and there are safety issues with its ballfield. She reached out several times to the previous principal for help but never heard back, until Rice arrived.
Valley View Assistant Principal Chris Gilliatt will take over for Rice.
“The district understands that change may be challenging, but we are confident that our schools will continue to thrive,” Velasco wrote. “Each administrator will continue to support and serve students and families in a new capacity and the district thanks them for their commitment to student success.”
